With the Jaguars sinking, the coach has an intriguing answer to the defensive woes

Over the last few weeks, the roles have changed for the Jacksonville Jaguars offense and defense. Throughout the first quarter of the season, the Jaguars’ defense consistently performed well enough to keep the team in games.

While they played well, the offense struggled to score enough points to complement the Jaguars’ solid defense.

The Jaguars’ defense held opponents to 24 points or fewer in three of the first four games. The only game in which an opponent did not score 24 points or fewer was against one of the highest-scoring teams in the National Football League.

Although the team played well in the first four weeks, they scored 27 or more points in three of their last four games, including one of their two wins.

Even in this win over the Indianapolis Colts, the Jaguars’ defense still almost cost the team the loss. After one touchdown and one field goal in the first three quarters of the game, the Jaguars defense allowed the Colts to score 24 points in the fourth quarter alone.

Head coach Doug Pederson says he and the team are still looking for answers halfway through the season.

“It’s something where when we look at the tape, we look at the personnel, we try to determine it, we try to put our finger on it,” Pederson said. “Is this a pattern? Is this an execution by the players? I’d say it’s a bit of both now. Look, sometimes the results are the same and I’m not saying that’s the case, but you don’t want to do too much on the field.

Pederson believes the Jaguars have players who want to be successful, but each player has to do their individual job better than they do. He admitted that the team has a lot of work ahead of it.

“You don’t want to take matters into your own hands and think you have to deal with someone else – we’re just asking you to do your job.” Pederson said. Coaches train, players play and so on. But do your thing and everything will be fine. When you see that the team is doing well, that’s what happens. All 11 play as one team.

“But sometimes, every now and then, you get one guy who maybe stepped out of the loop, does something a little different, forgot an assignment or something like that, and it hurts us. Those are the things we’re trying to sort out now and make sure we keep training. Practice the details, practice the finer points and try to eliminate some of them.

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